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Bill Holding CFPB Restrictions Faces Possible Veto

Friday, June 24, 2016 6:35 AM

President Obama’s senior aides recommended he veto a House Financial Services appropriations bill that contains myriad legislative riders, including restrictions on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Those provisions, which include subjecting the agency to the annual appropriations process, are supported by credit union trade associations. Despite that support, the legislative riders are unlikely to be enacted this year. The Senate Financial Services appropriations measure does not include them, and when House appropriators have proposed them in the past, they have been dropped from the final legislation.

In a statement of administrative policy issued by the Office of Management and Budget Tuesday, the administration said the bill would politicize the leadership of the CFPB, severely weaken its independence, and undermine its ability to serve the most vulnerable consumers.

In addition, the administration said, the bill would undermine key consumer protections by keeping the CFPB from enacting final rules restricting payday lending and mandatory arbitration agreements.

In addition to the CFPB issues, the administration objected to many legislative provisions affecting agencies from the Consumer Product Safety Commission to the Federal Communications Commission.

House Republicans have been attempting to enact the CFPB restrictions through several legislative vehicles, including the Dodd-Frank overhaul proposal recently unveiled by House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling (D-Texas).